Yang Cheng stood there, hands behind his back, gazing coldly at Ling Xiao. Li Anle’s defeat surprised him, but he wasn’t overly concerned.
That fool Li Anle must’ve underestimated his opponent again, letting himself get ambushed.
His lofty demeanor, his arrogance, seemed perfectly normal to everyone.
Imagine, a rank-ten half-step master facing a mere Martial Vein Eighth Peak warrior, if he were cautious, he’d be mocked as a coward.
His current attitude was natural, reasonable.
To him, Ling Xiao was just a fish flopping on the chopping block.
A junior chef might struggle, but a master chef like him could gut it with ease.
“Sigh, knowing when to quit would’ve been wiser…”
Lan Yuer sighed.
Though shocked by Ling Xiao’s victory over Li Anle, Yang Cheng was too strong, few in the outer sect could claim to beat him reliably.
Ling Xiao was like an ant challenging a colossus.
“Fine, fine, losing might be good for him. His martial talent’s lacking, but his medical talent’s top-tier, he can just be a master alchemist,” Lan Yuer planned his future for him.
Zhao Zhi sighed too, he’d wanted to recruit Ling Xiao, but now that he’d offended Yang Cheng and was about to become a laughingstock, it felt like a pity.
Xu Ying’s face gleamed with a manic grin.
She knew Ling Xiao was done, with no chance of turning things around, this reckless fool would face a crushing defeat.
…
On the challenge platform.
Ling Xiao faced Yang Cheng, his expression unchanged.
He knew exactly how strong Yang Cheng was.
Fighting him at Martial Vein Eighth Peak was a huge risk.
But Ling Xiao had no intention of revealing his true cultivation here.
High risk didn’t mean defeat was certain.
The greater the pressure, the greater the risk, the more he felt he’d gain from this fight.
It was danger, but also opportunity.
“Silent? Think keeping quiet will make me go easy? I’m not dumb enough to underestimate you like Li Anle…”
Before Yang Cheng finished, Ling Xiao’s figure vanished.
Nine Demon Divine Art!
Cloud Dragon Divine Movement!
In that instant, Yang Cheng’s muscles tensed, a chilling sensation coursing through him.
He couldn’t pinpoint Ling Xiao’s position.
Above?
Behind?
Left?
Or right?
Below, the crowd gasped.
Only four or five could track Ling Xiao’s movement, and Yang Cheng wasn’t among them.
Ling Xiao’s Cloud Dragon Divine Movement, a Gold-Grade Entry-Level technique, paired with Nine Demon Divine Art, was akin to a Gold-Grade Rare technique.
And don’t forget.
He had the Blood Shadow Martial Soul!
This soul didn’t just grant invisibility, but also eerie movement and speed.
The sudden shift made Yang Cheng’s scalp tingle.
The audience was stunned.
Who’d have thought Ling Xiao would strike first, just like against Li Anle?
His terrifying movement, paired with his martial soul, was seamless.
“Transcendent movement?”
Elder Bai’s brows twitched. In the outer sect, someone had mastered a Gold-Grade Entry-Level technique to transcendence, a shocking feat.
Even in the inner sect, only a handful, maybe the top three prodigies, could do this, let alone in the outer sect.
A Gold-Grade Entry-Level technique at transcendence, combined with Nine Demon Divine Art and the Blood Shadow Martial Soul.
This made Ling Xiao’s attack not just powerful, but downright terrifying.
Yang Cheng was still trying to locate Ling Xiao, to no avail.
Divine Prison King Fist—Slaughter!
From an eerily unpredictable angle, Ling Xiao appeared, unleashing a ferocious punch.
This punch was stronger than the one against Li Anle.
His right arm morphed into a bizarre form, covered in golden dragon scales, his hand a dragon claw.
The terrifying fist force dented the air, emitting a sonic boom, aimed at Yang Cheng’s weakest defense.
“Wind Sweeps Ruins!”
At the critical moment, Yang Cheng erupted with milky-white true essence, forming a gale that enveloped him.
The gale, centered on him, spiraled into a tornado, raging outward.
Its power was domineering, horrifying.
Like a true tornado, it aimed to tear Ling Xiao to shreds.
Boom!
The tornado clashed with the dragon claw, unleashing a deafening shockwave, as if eardrums might burst.
The scene was heart-pounding.
“Gulp!”
Spectators swallowed hard, this clash was even more thrilling than Yang Cheng versus Liu Qiang.
They didn’t dare blink, unwilling to miss such an epic fight.
After the explosion.
Blood trickled from Yang Cheng’s mouth, but he seemed unharmed, hair disheveled, standing like a sword god descended.
His sword was drawn, facing Ling Xiao, he dared not slack.
Ling Xiao’s weightless figure landed lightly on the platform’s edge, face slightly pale, but uninjured.
“Half-step master, such robust true essence, especially this Yang Cheng, worthy of outer sect rank ten!”
His expression remained cool.
He eyed Yang Cheng, calculating the next moves.
Yang Cheng’s strength was as expected, formidable, not easily defeated.
Compared to him, Li Anle was trash.
Both half-step masters, but in combat response and true essence depth, the gap was vast.
In that clash, had Yang Cheng not reacted hastily, had Ling Xiao not targeted his weak spot, he’d have been the one hurt.
Even with the third layer of Nine Demon Divine Art, he’d have been injured.
Pure defense was pointless, he had to keep attacking!
Yang Cheng stood, wiping the blood from his mouth, his pale face flushing red.
“Good! Truly excellent! Ling Xiao, you’re indeed stronger than that trash Li Anle, wounding me! Even if it was a sneak attack, that’s something to be proud of!”
“But, this is your limit!”
Ling Xiao’s face broke into a smile.
“Is it? Wounding you shocks you this much? If I beat you, would you kill yourself?”
Ling Xiao squinted, teasing.
This exchange gave him all of Yang Cheng’s data, the next moves would be even smoother.
